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Any experienced Ebay sellers here? Need help w a transaction

CJ2008

Ideal_Rock
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I just sold an electronics item on Ebay for around $230.

These are the red flags for me:

-Buyer pays in the form of an PayPal eCheck (which clears in about 3-5 days).
-Buyer sends me a message could I please ship the item before the check clears, he's going to India and wants to have it to give to his father.
-Email from Ebay to me says Seller Protection: Not Eligible
-I've been finding out/researching that Ebay does not protect sellers at all, in general. Even if you have a no return policy a dishonest buyer can just say the item is "not as described" and the seller ends up even paying for the buyer to return the item.

The seller has had their ID since 2008, has 9 feedbacks, all positive, all as a buyer. (ETA - the fact that he only has bought 9 times is not necessarily a red flag...)

I'm weary of this transaction for all these reasons - and I'm thinking I should just cancel it.

ETA2: the buyer has somewhat of an exotic name so I was able to Google his name and came up with a Facebook profile, and from that, where he says he works, etc. - the business he works at looks reputable (actually owner's name is same last name as his) and I do see his picture in a group of bigger people/employees...so it does seem to be a genuine person...not sure what to do.

Any advice?

And if I do cancel how do I go about doing that in the safest way (not sure if there's a risk in canceling, too - like a penalty).
 

momhappy

Ideal_Rock
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Re: Any experienced Ebay sellers here? Need help w a transac

You can attempt to cancel the transaction. Cancelling a transaction can affect your seller performance and also keep in mind that a buyer can still leave negative or neutral feedback if you cancel (and in many cases they do because they are upset about the transaction being cancelled). I would only cancel if you truly feel that something is not right.
Also, if you decide to follow through with the sale, do not ship until payment clears.
 

azstonie

Ideal_Rock
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Re: Any experienced Ebay sellers here? Need help w a transac

I would cancel if this were me. He's asking you to assume risk to send the item prior to the complete transfer of funds (the check clearing). The reason is immaterial to you. He can always find a risk-free way to pay you if he wants to.

So I would say cancel unless payment is risk free. Good luck!!!
 

CJ2008

Ideal_Rock
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Re: Any experienced Ebay sellers here? Need help w a transac

Thanks guys.

Yeah, I feel uncomfortable that he even asked me to ship it out before the check clears. Even though I realize that even an honest person - if they know they have no bad intentions - can ask.

I think what I'm netting out to is that maybe now that I've found out how much Ebay protects buyers I am just not comfortable selling high-ticket items there. So even if his eCheck cleared before I ship it out I'm just nervous he might say the item is not working, etc. and then I have to refund his money, eat the shipping charges, etc.

Then of course I think to myself "but people sell stuff without a problem all the time!" "most people are good" etc.

And I go back and forth...arrggggh...

I think I'm going to send him a message and explain to him I feel uncomfortable he asked me to ship it before the check clears. Not sure what that will accomplish but it's some kind of action. :sick:
 

partgypsy

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Re: Any experienced Ebay sellers here? Need help w a transac

It doesn't really sound all that fishy. Explain that you can only mail once funds clear. If he is not comfortable with that then he needs to cancel transaction or ask you to cancel.
 

tyty333

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Re: Any experienced Ebay sellers here? Need help w a transac

Maybe you should tell him that you are unable to ship the item before the check clears. If he is unhappy about that then you
will cancel the sell for him (agree that no negative feedback will be left by either party).

If he says ok, "I understand", then you would have to go ahead and send it when the check clears? Might not be the answer you
want after figuring out you dont have much recourse.

Unless you just want to cancel it and take the chance at a bad feedback.

BTW...I dont think anyone should expect something to be mailed out before funds clear. I guess they can always ask, but that's
a bit ridiculous if you ask me.
 

CJ2008

Ideal_Rock
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Re: Any experienced Ebay sellers here? Need help w a transac

He just wrote back and said he wasn't asking me to ship it before the check clears, but to ship it FASTER.

I re-read his email and sure enough that IS what he had asked.

Wow. I read it several times and had totally missed that. :confused:

(part gypsy I think reading all the problems people have had via Ebay has made me a bit...overcautious! :errrr: )

So I guess I have to decide if I am just comfortable in general (and if I'm not I'll have to apologize to him profusely and obviously take it off Ebay permanently), and if I am OK with paying more to ship it to him faster...
 

momhappy

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Re: Any experienced Ebay sellers here? Need help w a transac

Well, my experience has been that when it comes to EBay you can never be too cautious!!!! ;-)
 

azstonie

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Re: Any experienced Ebay sellers here? Need help w a transac

This guy is now deceitful in addition to being manipulative. He's not worried about how *you* are perceiving *him.*

You're already expending too much energy on it, think how screwed you'll feel if/when this transaction goes south. So far just emailing with the guy has been ridiculous. I'd hate to see you get burned, you're clearly a considerate person. Better safe/sorry, right?
 

CJ2008

Ideal_Rock
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Re: Any experienced Ebay sellers here? Need help w a transac

momhappy - yes, I just don't want to get burned.

azstonie|1429148467|3862600 said:
This guy is now deceitful in addition to being manipulative. He's not worried about how *you* are perceiving *him.*

You're already expending too much energy on it, think how screwed you'll feel if/when this transaction goes south. So far just emailing with the guy has been ridiculous. I'd hate to see you get burned, you're clearly a considerate person. Better safe/sorry, right?

You know what you're right azstonie. He's polite, and he agreed to pay for any extra shipping, but I do seem more concerned with making sure the device will work in India than he does...I asked him if I could send him a video of the device working and he didn't even acknowledge it. Only after I asked him a second time did he say to send the video...maybe he's just not concerned that it will work, but he's not verbalizing that.

The only reason I'm expending energy on it is because I'd like to get rid of/sell the freaking thing already. But it *will* suck if it goes south.

I think I do just need to cancel and take my chances he'll leave me a negative rating.
 

VRBeauty

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Re: Any experienced Ebay sellers here? Need help w a transac

It sounds like your "red flags" were hoisted mainly because you initially mis-read the buyer's request. If he's not asking you to ship before the check clears... and he's only asking you to ship it via a faster means, and is willing to pay for you to ship it faster... I'm not sure what the problem is. :confused:
 

CJ2008

Ideal_Rock
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Re: Any experienced Ebay sellers here? Need help w a transac

VRBeauty|1429151792|3862630 said:
It sounds like your "red flags" were hoisted mainly because you initially mis-read the buyer's request. If he's not asking you to ship before the check clears... and he's only asking you to ship it via a faster means, and is willing to pay for you to ship it faster... I'm not sure what the problem is. :confused:

Yes, that's true...

Although the first thing that raised a flag was the eCheck. BUT - I recognize that may be just because that was the first time I ever saw that payment type.

I think it's not so much about the buyer any more - it's me feeling uncomfortable with Ebay and PayPal. The seller basically has what seems to be zero protection. So like I was saying - if this guy ends up deciding to say he didn't receive it, he doesn't like it, it's not as described (which people seem to use as a loophole) - from what I've read, there's a 99% chance Ebay will rule in his favor, even if I do everything "right." That may even mean me refunding all the fees and not getting the item back.
 

qtiekiki

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Re: Any experienced Ebay sellers here? Need help w a transac

^Ditto VRBeauty. I don't think it's fair for you to just cancel the transaction. If I was the buyer, I would be annoyed when there had not been any issues regarding payment. You just wait for the echeck to clear. I've gotten echecks a few times, and it's fine once it's clear.
 

CJ2008

Ideal_Rock
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Re: Any experienced Ebay sellers here? Need help w a transac

I know gtiekiki - that's part of the reason I'm trying to figure out if I'm just being paranoid or what.

I know if I was an honest buyer I'd be annoyed too.

But it also really was an honest mistake on my part, meaning I did not realize these things about Ebay.

I have not yet canceled - I'm looking for ways to see how I can best protect myself.

I'm going to now call UPS and FedEx and have them quote a price for overnight shipping with insurance and signature confirmation.
 
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